Five minutes with Le Galaxie

Chris Wasser
– 20 April 2015 11:25 AM

Those Le Galaxie boys are all set to take things to the next level.

A major label record contract? Check. Second album, Le Club, good to go? Check. Tour dates at the ready? You betcha. It’s exciting times for the Dublin electronic quartet, renowned for their dazzling, near-chaotic live shows and mesmerising, synth-heavy floor-fillers. We caught up with bassist David McGloughlin to talk record deals, future plans and his love for the inimitable Phil Lynott…

You signed to Universal Music Ireland last year. Give us an idea of what a major label record contract means to a band like Le Galaxie.

“We’ve always been kind of like a cottage industry in that we did everything ourselves. We were, like, very hands on, you know, from the recording of the music to literally sitting down ourselves and editing our videos and stuff like that. Which is, like, really time intensive and there are times where you just wish you could concentrate on making the music and doing that the best you could without having to do all this other stuff, like organising our own PR and booking our own tours. I mean, Michael [Le Galaxie’s front man] essentially was our de facto manager in the earlier days of the band, so having Universal come on board means now you have this team of people working to give your music the best opportunity that they can, which is exactly what we were looking for with this record.”

You worked on your second album, Le Club, in Los Angeles - you’ve also started to play a lot more shows abroad. Are you beginning to see a pay-off with international audiences?

“Yeah, I mean, last year we started doing some of the UK festivals and we played in Germany, and we were over in the US earlier this year, and the response has been incredible. I mean, it’s relatively early days over there but we’ve never been a band that’s afraid of a slog. Much as we do have kind of a live reputation in Ireland, at the same time, we realise you’ve gotta keep pushing onwards and upwards and we’re looking forward to getting this album out and touring it as many places as possible.”

What made you want to pursue a career in music?

“It was never a decision! It was just something that I did. When I was a kid, I was just absolutely obsessed with music, and also with sound, as well – like, creating sounds. So I would have been one of those kids that kind of messed around with like, four-track machines and stuff like that. So it was really just something I sort of fell into. It’s funny, I’ve had the conversation a few times with friends of mine who are playing music, that’s it just like, you can’t imagine doing anything else, you know, you’re just driven to do it, and in some ways, you’re just so lucky to have landed into this situation where you meet some like-minded people, and you actually get to take it somewhere.”

Who is your musical hero?

“Wow. I have loads of them, you know, it could be anyone from Michael Jackson to Aphex Twin. I guess if I was to pick somebody who has had an incredible career and output of music, it would be someone like Aphex Twin.”

What’s your favourite Irish album of all time?

“Wow, that’s a very difficult question. I would have been a big fan of something like Achtung Baby when it came out. But at the same time, I remember my father used to listen to Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous, and that was just a huge influence on me, I mean, I remember back when my dad used to play records to me when I was a kid and he put on this particular one and you could hear the crowd go crazy and these guys tearing into the songs. I’m from Crumlin myself and my dad was like, ‘You know Phil Lynott just used to live down the road there?’ I was like, ‘Are you kidding me’? You know, you look at the album cover and there he is, strutting his stuff and it’s just, ‘This guy is Irish? You mean this is possible for someone like me, too?’ So something like that would have had a big effect on me as a kid.”

What’s your favourite live venue in Dublin?

“I would say the Olympia Theatre, without a doubt. We were lucky enough to play there - the atmosphere there is always just so good.”

Your favourite pub?

“The pub? Wow, that’s a good one now. I’m going to have to scratch my head on that one…”

Your favourite Irish film?

“I liked that film Kisses that was released there a few years ago. Or, going back further I remember seeing Eat the Peach on TV as a kid and just, again, that notion of being blown away by something, ‘What that movie was made in Ireland?’”

This is quite an exciting time for the band – is there a long-term plan here? Do you guys ever wonder where you’ll be, say, in five years’ time?

“Yeah, I’d say definitely. I mean, we were always very self-motivated when we started out and we were always trying to push forward to the next thing, even if we weren’t sure what that was or how to get there, and even now, for us, that’s Universal. I think we were all kind of surprised, when the deal came about - when we actually signed the contract, you know, you would have thought like, ‘Wow, this will be this big kind of ‘road to Damascus’ moment where a thunder bolt hit Le Galaxie’, but because of how much work we’ve put in, to get to this point, and how much work we see ahead of us, it’s actually just another step on the road where we’re still seeing ourselves wanting to get bigger and play to more people and get out to more territories and release so much more music. We’ve started working on our next album now, as well, so we’ve always been quite focused…”

Describe your new album in three words…

“Wow. ‘Iridescent’, ‘dark’ and…I’m gonna say ‘sleek’. Regarding the pub, you can say the Library Bar in the Central Hotel…”

Oh, thanks. Finally, what’s your favourite Dublin saying?

“It would have to be ‘…and anyway’. That little thing that people stick on at the end of sentences. I know it’s not a saying, per se. I’m not quite sure what it means - I’m not sure anyone does. You could be saying, ‘ah sure, I think it’s gonna rain and anyway’. I just think it’s wonderful. It’s so Dublin and it’s so meaningless but at the same time, it actually expresses quite a lot…”

Le Club is released this Friday. Le Galaxie play the Academy on Friday and Saturday night. Tickets priced €19 are available at www.ticketmaster.ie.